EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc’s land and sea by end of decade
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/17/eu-passes-law-to-restore-20-of-blocs-land-and-sea-by-end-of-decade
by Wagamaga
EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc’s land and sea by end of decade
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/17/eu-passes-law-to-restore-20-of-blocs-land-and-sea-by-end-of-decade
by Wagamaga
6 comments
The EU has passed a landmark law to protect nature after a knife-edge vote, ending a months-long deadlock among member states spooked by fierce protests from farmers.
The law, which has proven to be the most controversial pillar of the European Green Deal and nearly failed at the final hurdle, sets a target to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by the end of the decade.
Lawmakers and governments had watered down the proposal in the months leading up to the European elections, in which far-right parties gained seats and green parties lost them. But despite concessions, supporters barely won over enough member states at a vote in Luxembourg on Monday.
“Today marks a significant day for Europe as we transition from merely protecting and conserving nature to actively restoring it,” said César Luena, a centre-left MEP from Spain who led the European parliament’s negotiations on the law.
The fraught proposal was nearly torpedoed in the European parliament last year and then pushed to the verge of collapse in March when Hungary unexpectedly withdrew its support. Ireland led a subsequent push to win over other countries, urging ministers to avoid backtracking on compromises that had already been agreed.
But until the final moments it was unclear whether supporters of the law had gathered enough votes to achieve a qualified majority of 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the EU population.
🙏
Austrian climate minister who just blew up the coalition by signing the law: thank me later
The EU stepping up with the nature restoration law is huge. That’s ambitious and exactly what we need to turn things around for our environment. It’s high time we move from just protecting nature to actively restoring it.
>The majority of countries voted in favour of the law, with only six countries – Italy, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden – voting against.
Start in the baltic sea, nothing but chemicals dropped after ww2 and overfishing. Then head to north sea and start there.